In the said video released two days after the Eid-ul-Adha celebration on Monday, Boko Haram insurgents were shown offering their prayers in a mosque and two other locations in the Sambisa forest.

A spokesman who addressed the worshippers on behalf of Abubakar Shekau threatened that the group were ready to unleash more attacks in Nigeria and also capture the sitting president and leader of ‘infidels’ – Muhammadu Buhari – alive.

They also sent a warning to the army chief, Tukur Buratai to stop peddling falsehood about having ‘finished’ them. Interestingly they also warned the army not to say the latest video was concocted as has been the case in the past.

But the army’s statement suggests that. ‘‘The military is equally not deterred by the photoshop assemblage of worshippers at the supposed Eid-El Kabir prayer which is a replica of the video clip released by the sect in 2014,” the statement said.

The army also described the sect as empty vessels that made the most noise. They said they were ready to rid the country of all terrorists and to ensure the safety and security of all persons.